Inside The Castle Corona

Scholastic News: What character do you relate to most?Sharon Creech: In The Castle Corona, I most relate to Pia, a character who is on the "outside" but who likes to imagine what life is like elsewhere.

Scholastic News: How long did it take you to write The Castle Corona?Sharon Creech: This book took about two years to write.

Scholastic News: How did you come up with the personalities of the characters?Sharon Creech: The characters' personalities evolve as I write. I rarely know much about them when I begin. Then, when I see how they might react to another character or to a situation, I begin to learn more about them. I knew from the beginning that all of the royal family would be a bit foolish, for instance, but I didn't know in what ways until I "met" each one in the story.

Scholastic News: Do Prince Gianni and Pia get married?Sharon Creech: I don't know! What do you think? If I were to write that part of the story, then I would know.

Scholastic News: What was your inspiration for The Castle Corona?Sharon Creech: Many things inspired me, but most important was the image in my mind of a glittering castle. I wondered who would live there and who would live outside the castle and what would happen if the "insiders" and "outsiders" met.

Scholastic News: What was the first thing you did when the idea of The Castle Corona came into your head?Sharon Creech: I let the idea of the castle roll around in my head for many, many years! When finally I could "see" the royal family and the peasant children, I started writing. First I wanted the reader to meet Pia and Enzio. Then I wanted them to see the castle and meet the royal family.

Scholastic News: What do you want your readers to get from reading The Castle Corona?Sharon Creech: I hope they enjoy the story. There is not one message I hope they will "get."

Scholastic News: How does the story relate to your childhood? Sharon Creech: This story does not relate very much to my childhood except that we were definitely not rich and I suppose I always wondered what it would be like to live with wealth (like the royals in this story.)

Do you need help picking out what book to read next? Let Scholastic News Online be your guide! Find out what Kid Reporters are saying about all the latest books by reading their book reviews in this special report .